Chinese Chicken Salad (like Cheesecake Factory)

CHINESE PLUM SALAD DRESSING:
2 oz chunk of fresh ginger root
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup vinegar (rice vinegar)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp plum sauce
2 Tbsp water
few sprinkles white pepper
2 Tbsp crushed peanuts or walnuts or almond
SALAD:
1 head iceberg lettuce
2 cups chicken chunks; stir fried, baked; roasted, or broiled
Crispy fried wonton strips; See directions
Fruits such as pineapple, raisins, mandarin orange slices, pear, etc.
Crispy Wonton Strips (recipe follows)

FOR THE DRESSING:
Peel the ginger, then mince it as finely as you can. You should have about 1/4 cup - it doesn't have to be exact. Put the vinegar and sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil, uncovered and boil one minute*. Add the finger and boil 1 minute more. Take off the heat. Pour into a mixing bowl. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients. You'll have about 3/4 cup.

Wash the lettuce, tear into bite-size squares and spin it dry in a salad spinner. Toss the lettuce thoroughly with the dressing. Mound the lettuce on individual salad plates or in a big salad bowl. Top with handfuls of chicken, wontons and fruit

*You can use 4 tablespoons white (not red) pickled ginger and omit heating with vinegar and sugar.

NOTES : I added a little hot chili oil to the dressing to give it a little more taste. It's pretty mild without the chili oil.

CRISPY WONTON STRIPS:
People can't get enough of fried wontons. Canned crispy noodles are a barely acceptable artifice. Real fried wontons are 1/4 inch thick and 2 inches long, a fine fried mouthful. Put extras in a bowl on the table.

10 wonton skins.
Vegetable oil

Cut the stack of wontons skins into strips 1/4 inch wide. Pour 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil into a wok or medium-sized pot. Turn the heat to medium-high and heat the oil until it's very hot (375 degrees on a candy thermometer). Have ready a cookie sheet lined with paper towels, for draining the strips.

Add the wonton strips to the oil in batches. Leave room for them to bob around. The strips will curl. After a minute or less, they'll be golden. As they become done, take them out of the oil with a slotted spoon or tongs, and drain in batches on paper towels. You might have to turn down the heat to medium if the oil is frying the wontons too fast.

Source: Epicurious